Goodwin University, Admin Bldg. 417 Main St., East Hartford. CT

Noon – Past President Bob rang the bell and led us in the Pledge of Allegiance.

Jim Watts offered a thoughtful invocation focusing on our opportunities, as Rotarians, to serve in hopes of making this a better world.

Bob led us in the Four-Way Test. He mentioned that we are waiting for Rob to return to begin another Ace of Spades Raffle.

Two guests today: Tasha Bobb, from East Hartford Social Services, who will be or speaker, and Paul Wilusz, who remains interested in participating in the club. In fact, he stayed after the regular meeting to help with the book project preparation and has volunteered to deliver dictionaries  and thesauruses to the Pitkin School when we do deliveries in early December.

Guests led the way to lunch. Really missing Guy – today’s lunch was quire bare, consisting of a green salad, cheese pizza and penne in cream sauce –fit for the vegetarians among us.

Bob mentioned the plan for us to join others on Friday, December 12. Holiday Gala at A Villa Louisa, 60 Villa Louisa Rd, Bolton, CT, beginning at 6:30 PM. Cost $75/person, which includes Open Bar, Appetizers, Buffet Dinner, Entertainment, Games, Raffle, and Dancing.

Please RSVP to Rob Rosa, robrosa@bhhsne.com.

Anwar introduced today’s speaker, Tasha Bobb, the Food Bank Coordinator for East Hartford Social Services, celebrating her 7-year anniversary with Social Services today. This is a challenging position, considering there are 7 food panties, including 4 mobile pantries. It’s not surprising that demand increased dramatically during the recent Federal Government shutdown, due to the interruption in Snap benefits. The food pantries are open to all Connecticut residents, not limited To East Hartford.

Bob rang the bell to end the meeting before 1 PM. Then everyone got to work adding Four-Way Test stickers to 528 dictionaries. We were done well before 1:30 thanks to everyone who stayed the extra thirty minute to help. Sue indicated we should be able to wind up the project during the first week in December, sorting out books to the various schools. Thanks again to Ray Maselek for the use of the conference room and his adjacent office where the books are being stored.

High Gear submitted by Sue Klock, scribe for this week.